PointsBet appoints Scott Vanderwel as CEO of its Canadian team

Online gaming operator PointsBet has appointed Scott Vanderwel as CEO for PointsBet Canada.
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Online gaming operator PointsBet has appointed Scott Vanderwel as CEO for PointsBet Canada.

Vanderwel will start his new role on August 17 and will report to Global CEO, Sam Swanell. He joins earlier senior hires of Nic Sulsky as Chief Commercial Officer and Chantal Cipriano as Vice President, Legal, Compliance & People on PointsBet’s Canadian team.

Swanell stated: “We’re thrilled that Scott has agreed to serve as the first CEO of PointsBet Canada and help us build a team and a business strategy that can serve the new Canadian market with the same sort of creativity and customer-focus that our clients in the US and around the world have come to expect from PointsBet.

“PointsBet is committed to creating products that fit the consumer’s needs, satisfy the important and necessary requirements of regulators, and enable fans to engage with their favorite sports in new and exciting ways. Scott and the team we are building in Canada with help us do just that.”

Vanderwel previously served as Senior Vice President for Rogers Communications, where he oversaw corporate strategy, operational improvement, and digital operations. Before Rogers, he led Monitor Group’s Canadian practice, a global business strategy consultancy, later acquired by Deloitte. He is currently the chair of the Ivey Alumni Network Board.

Commenting on his appointment, Vanderwel said: “I want to thank Sam and the entire PointsBet team for this incredible opportunity. I’m excited to take my decades of corporate experience and apply it to building an elite organization ready to serve customers and help responsibly jump-start a brand-new industry in Canada.

“The sports-betting industry has demonstrated how it can entertain consumers, engage sports fans and deliver quality products, and PointsBet has been at the forefront of doing it the right way in markets around the world. We’re going to build a modern, responsible, distinctly Canadian operation and I can’t wait to get started.”

PointsBet USA CEO, Johnny Aitken, added: “Having built a core team into an operation with more than 200 employees at our headquarters in Denver, serving thousands of clients in states all over the US, I’m looking forward to sharing with Scott what we’ve learned here, but more importantly, utilizing his unique experience to make our entire company better.

“These are obviously two distinct North American markets, and Scott’s appointment will enable PointsBet to serve both of them even better.”